Representatives of foreign shipping companies believe that Ukraine should make maximum efforts to dredge its seaports, the CFTS portal reports from the Ukrainian Ports Forum 2019, which is taking place in Odesa.
"Speaking of the Newcastlemax that we are discussing today, we need to ask ourselves why it is important. It is because both ship owners and cargo owners can benefit from it economically. The privileges for shippers are increase of shipment volumes, increase of revenue, and, of course, increase of profits. There is also a reduction in freight per ton. Larger vessels can generate more income for owners,” said Suguru Uchida San, director of NYK Bulkship (Atlantic) NV.
NYK has been in the shipping market for over 40 years. NYK established the specialist subsidiary company, NYK Bulkship (Atlantic) NV in April 2007. It has its head office in Antwerp and branch offices in London and New York and representative staff in Rio de Janeiro and Houston. NYK Bulkship (Atlantic) NV is responsible for the commercial aspects, including chartering, financial, and the operation of more than 40 vessels (owned and chartered) which include dry bulkers, woodchip carriers.
"The natural conclusion for ports, ship owners, and cargo owners is the use of larger vessels," said he said. According to him, the issue of ship draft in the Yuzhny seaport needs to be addressed urgently. “The port cannot receive Newcastlemax because of its limitations. For Ukraine, it is simply imperative to continue dredging in order to attract new shipping lines and large ship owners,” he said.
Massimo Dentice, chairman of Clarksons Platou (Italy) S.r.l., expressed a similar point of view at Ukrainian Ports Forum 2019. "Let us concentrate on Capesize vessels. There were many such new ships for many years. We are seeing many new Capesize vessels, but the key is new Newcastlemax vessels… Therefore, you have to understand why it is important to dredge to 21 meters or 21.5 meters, for example," Dentice said.
